Before purchasing into any stock, a background check of the company and key personnel is a definitive must. This will include obtaining copies of the latest annual reports, security filings, researching news reports about the company, examining what current contracts they have, etc..

The access to information available via the internet takes this very time consuming process and narrows it down to a much smaller time frame with  a few well chosen investment sites.

Yahoo has one of the most impressive stock research sites available. All information is free and covers both US and Canadian stock exchanges. Quotes and News are delayed 20 minutes, but for the small investor looking at purchasing and holding a stock for a long period of time, this works well.

For each stock there are up to six different sections information can be retrieved; charts, news, company profile, analyst research, insider trades, and SEC filings. A lot of this information comes from external sources (usually pay sites) such as Commodity Systems Inc. (stock historical data), the US Security & Exchange Commission (annual and quarterly report filings), Business Wire and Reuters News Services.

Yahoo also provides information on upcoming IPOs (Initial Public Offering), dividend payments, stock splits and earning estimates.

Bigcharts, also a free site, has a much narrower focus but still provides excellent value. Where Bigcharts really stands out is in the presentation of graphical information for performing a basic technical analysis of a stock. Several options for moving averages, relative strength indexes, stock comparisons are included that provide a reasonably robust view of the stock for the small investor.

The drawback to this site however is the time it takes for some charts to load, which is more than likely due to the popularity of the site and the number of advertisers.

Getting information on Canadian stocks is difficult and sometimes downright impossible.  SEDAR, the system for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval, was set-up in 1997 to allow Canadian publicly traded companies to file security related information with the Canadian Securities Administration. Although Yahoo and Bigcharts will provide some information on Canadian companies, their focus is primarily US based which is what makes SEDAR such a good site to have bookmarked.

Past these three sites, there are numerous sites that provide news, analysis and information. Some are reputable, some are not. Part of conducting due diligence is to determine where each site fits in your own risk assessment. Some of the more reputable sites include:

• www.cnnfn.com

• cbs.marketwatch.com

• www.bloomberg.com

An online bulletin board is place where people can set-up their soap box and talk about anything that happens to be on their mind. In almost all cases the bulletin board is broken into rooms which have a set topic. Sometimes the information given in the room is of great value and other times it's worthless. OBBs can be a great source for rumors before a press release. The caveat though is in many cases the rumors are false and many stocks have risen dramatically hours after a rumor only to fall just as dramatically in the days following. Some of the best places to find extra information and rumors are:

• clubs.yahoo.com

• www.fool.com

• www.ragingbull.com

There are many sites devoted to providing stock picks on a daily, weekly, and/or monthly basis. Some of the most well know sites are also the same sites which are paid to promote a favourable view of the business in question. Many people have been burnt following the recommendations of these stock pick sites and newsletters and here is why:

There are two ways to make money in the stock market: betting that a stock price will rise, and betting that a stock price will fall. Most small investors follow the adage 'buy low, sell high'. There are a number of players however that reverse that adage when 'shorting' a stock. Shoring a stock involves selling stock which you do not own at a high price, then waiting for the stock price to fall and buying back enough of the stock to cover the initial sell order.

Owners of stock pick sites can take advantage of their 'customers' in two ways. First is by buying up stock prior to the stock announcement and selling once the price has gone up right after the announcement. The second is to wait for the stock price to crest at it's high point and then short sell the stock purchasing back into it once the price settles back to it's normal level. This is 'buyer beware' at it's worst.

If your business deals with an investment advisor, check to see if they offer an investment newsletter. Usually these are the safest bets and are well researched. For those interested in other sites which may provide good insight, look for sites or newsletters which provide a full disclosure of payments for the write-up, that provide a full company analysis, history of the company, and provide a history of their past picks.